MatSu Frigid Bits Results

Wow ! It was an over the top awesome day !
What a friendly group of bike folks ! This was a super experience to be with all these great folks, along with awesome super sunny afternoon with a bright blue sky, along with a challenging course that everyone enjoyed, yes it was a special day !

Mark mentioned that the last race out there was in 1984, that was 23 years ago !
It was fun meeting new folks and hopefully some friendships were started, and we all will meet again for another ride this summer, hopefully earlier than that !

Well, today was a day of firsts, (1) the release of Thirsty work's Burn Barrel Ale that had a fantastic label with a picture of our soon to be famous Frigid Bits Burn Barrel! I took the bottle home vowing not to open it, but I did, this stuff is sooo soooo gooood, I want to tell you; this is the good $hitz !
(2) first race in the winter in 23 years for the Matsu Frigid Bits,
(3) the first meeting of the Anchorage Frigid Bits posse with our fellow sno bros and sisters, the MatSu Frigid Bits !

First of all, we started off with 2 courses a short course and a long course. Well, by my count, 4 people decided that they need to express some creativity while bike riding in the sun and completed a course that was different from the other 2 mentioned courses. We also had a group of 3 riders who elected to do the tourist route which was a route they choose as they rode !

Matsu Frigid Bits - Moose Range Cruise

Yo! Classic sunny winter event at the entrance to Hatcher Pass. As always, thanks Carlos. Big thanks to Mark too, for coming up with the idea in the first place. The trail conditions were near perfect except for the Horse Holes and snow drifts which added a little spice and challenge to course. It was great to see such a good turnout for the first Frigid Bits of the North, hopefully we will be able to do this again.

The biggest challenge for me was to keep my head up to see the flagging. Although the walk to the top of Moose Range Everest was brutal, the view was grandiose. Well worth the extra 15+ minutes of hiking. It was nice to ride in a little warmer weather too. Last weeks -10 was just a little too much.

Man, what a fun time!

That was the first time I'd ever been in the area to ride, and what a treat! The course was a hoot, and the setting was really scenic. I wish I could have had my head up more often.

First off, we got lucky with the break in the weather. I stopped one time to air up the Endomorphs, pulling off my gloves and giving each tire 100 pumps, and my hands never even got cold. No cold face or cold toes, perfect conditions.

The trail conditions were super if you discount the short stretch with the horse divots. The swoopy stuff was a kick, and the view from the higher area was enough to make we want to sit and take it all in.

Then hanging out afterward around the barrel was such a blast. This was definitely a high point. Huddling around for warmth, sipping on a Frigid Bits Ale (cool labels thirsty) and then munching on a burger just added to all the fun. Thanks Tim for the effort. Everyone was having such a good time that two hours went by milling around the barrel after riding.

During my hour-long drive home afterwards I thought to myself that the event was totally worth driving for. I got in a great ride, saw some new country, made some new acquaintances and shared conversation with a fun group of people while having tasty brew, and impressing Leonard to no end with my world class jokes! Ha.

Great turn out

Thanks for coming out, glad everyone had a good time. I'll post some pics later tonight or tomorrow, a bunch of us are attempting the Knik Glacier ride today. Thanks to Carlos for the promotion and Chris, Dave, and Dallas for mapping out the course and helping mark it out, and thanks to everyone who showed, we'll have to make it annual event.

first ascent of Denali on fat bikes

A big Thanks to Mark and Carlos for making this happen on short notice. I am claiming the first ascent of Denali on a fat bike after missing the turn off near Murphy Rd. The view from the top was tremendous, as was the bomber descent to find the correct route-the West Buttress, possibly? The course was a blast-such a nice change of style from our rides here in town. Rollers, berms a little of everything. Mark and his Valley crew were great hosts. Good to ride and share some Burn Barrel Ale with all of you, cause after all, that was some thirsty work.
Nice pics, akdeluxe. It was good to have you out.

Bike Boy and I had a great time, the Sweeper enjoyed himself but had to leave early.

Thanks for having a BEGINNERS course (this was our first winter trail ride on SNOW-haven't had snow for a few years here in the Valley) and for letting us hang out with real bikers. The short course was a lot of fun and very pretty at the swamp. I stopped and just looked around a couple of times. Ireally enjoyed getting off the Springer and into the woods.

It was great watching "Those Who Know" (real bikers). Carlos shared some pointers with me, I learned a few things. The burn barrel is a piece of art and the Burn Barrel Ale label is a keeper. It's going up in my bike shop - thanks for sharing, Thirsty Work!

Now Bike Boy wants a Wildfire fat bike. This is a great sport and I hope he develops a life long love of riding.

Spreading the Word

In case anyone missed it, there's an article in the Outdoor section of the ADN on racing bicycles on ice. It's a reprint of the article that was in the New York Times touting Carlos as the King of promoters for Winter Racing in Alaska. They've added a little extra to it from the local scene

ThirstyWork - I think that more importantly and obviously more fun, was your first descent of Denali on a fat bike. I'll take credit for the first face plant on the descent.